Abstract

This paper, attempts to provide a useful perspective of Systems Thinking’s contribution to Design’s theoretical grounding for both research and education. ‘Useful’ in the sense that it will equip design students and graduate professionals with a supportive and productive way of thinking about Design. This is viewed against the trend of more and more multidisciplinary design problems emerging where designers are asked to deal with the complexity which is inherent in such problems. Thus this discourse is also framed in understandings of interdisciplinarity and further, transdisciplinarity, to attempt to gain some traction on these heterogeneous domains. Such domains are subject to many attempts to provide them with a theoretical framework. In this paper, it is suggested that Systems Thinking can contribute considerably to such a framework. The world of Systems Thinking is not new to Design, but against the new scenarios of increasing complexity, it is in a stronger position to demonstrate its potential for Design. This paper will posit the enhancements to both the designer’s way of thinking as well as the ‘design tools’ that Systems Thinking could provide. Hence, the paper’s main emphasis is on how and why the designer profile could be positively influenced by Systems Thinking.

Keywords

Design Theory; Design Education; Systems Thinking; Interdisciplinarity; Transdisciplinarity

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Jun 16th, 12:00 AM

Designers in complex problem solving: the contribution of Systems Thinking

This paper, attempts to provide a useful perspective of Systems Thinking’s contribution to Design’s theoretical grounding for both research and education. ‘Useful’ in the sense that it will equip design students and graduate professionals with a supportive and productive way of thinking about Design. This is viewed against the trend of more and more multidisciplinary design problems emerging where designers are asked to deal with the complexity which is inherent in such problems. Thus this discourse is also framed in understandings of interdisciplinarity and further, transdisciplinarity, to attempt to gain some traction on these heterogeneous domains. Such domains are subject to many attempts to provide them with a theoretical framework. In this paper, it is suggested that Systems Thinking can contribute considerably to such a framework. The world of Systems Thinking is not new to Design, but against the new scenarios of increasing complexity, it is in a stronger position to demonstrate its potential for Design. This paper will posit the enhancements to both the designer’s way of thinking as well as the ‘design tools’ that Systems Thinking could provide. Hence, the paper’s main emphasis is on how and why the designer profile could be positively influenced by Systems Thinking.

 

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